Today I am reprinting a blog from Pennsylvania Family Institute that talks about our Pennsylvania Commonwealth Constitution and our courts. The article is informative and encourages us to pray over these matters. This echoes the scriptures that encourages us to pray for our leaders.
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In your opinion, if you had to pick two of the most famous and well-known passages in Scripture, what would they be?
Many answers to this question would include The Ten Commandments and The Sermon on the Mount.
The Ten Commandments are the central statement in the Old Testament on how we are to live our lives if we put our faith and trust in God. The Sermon on the Mount offers wisdom from the New Testament calling Christians to live at a higher level than the rest of the world. The eight beatitudes that Jesus says are vitally important for anyone who follows Him.
These two sections of Scripture speak truth to how we are to live as Christians.
So how does Pennsylvania define truth? Well, in government, Pennsylvanians are directed to live in accordance to the Constitution; it speaks truth to the rights and liberties given to the people of this Commonwealth. Our State Constitution begins with this:
WE, the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance, do ordain and establish this Constitution.
The Pennsylvania Court System is in place to interpret law based on the Constitution. From Minor State Courts on up to the State Supreme Court, the Pennsylvania court system has a large task. Essentially, any judge is an interpreter of truth.
An amazing picture is found in the Supreme Court room of our Pennsylvania State Capitol, the highest court in our state. Found on the walls of this court room are beautiful paintings of The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) and The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:13-17). With every strike of the gavel and every interpretation of the law in this courtroom, perhaps the two most important messages for living out the Christian faith are portrayed in clear view of all Supreme Court Justices.
Click here for a complete list of members of our Pennsylvania Court System.
http://www.pafamily.org/day2prayresources.php
Please pray for our State Court System. With 7 Supreme Court justices, 14 Commonwealth Court justices, 20 Superior Court justices and numerous justices on the common pleas court and minor courts, we have many “interpreters of truth” in Pennsylvania. Pray for their families, their marriages and that they humbly invoke heavenly guidance.
Along with these two powerful passages in the courtroom is a verse from Psalms 138:2:
“Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.”
May God grant wisdom to the members of our court system as they interpret our laws and may his Word be magnified above all.
Endnote:
Pennsylvania Institute Blog, Interpreters of Truth: Prayer for State Court System, by Dan Bartkowiak, February 14, 2010
http://pafamily.wordpress.com/